CFMoto’s SR-C21 Seems To Be More Than a Concept

CFMoto’s SR SR-C21 concept has been shown in China and looks very much like a production-ready bike. (CFMoto/)

With CFMoto making a return to the US motorcycle market there couldn’t be a better time for the firm to drop a big hint at its future plans with the unveiling of an impressive-looking sportbike concept—and the firm’s new SR-C21 looks like it’s only a few tweaks away from being ready for showrooms.

Although the bike has been shown in the metal in China and CFMoto has released detailed studio photos, technical information is thin on the ground with a particular mystery over the engine that hides behind the largely carbon fiber bodywork. It’s a parallel twin but close inspection of the visible parts of the engine cases suggests it is not directly related to any of the company’s existing engines.

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The bike’s sleek, refined styling has similarities to the brand’s smaller 300cc sportbikes, but engine size remains a mystery. (CFMoto/)

At the moment, CFMoto already has an armory of twins to call upon, including 650cc and 700cc versions of its own design—as used in the 650 Adventura, 650NK, and 700CL-X that are among the models destined for the US market—and access to KTM’s 799cc “790″ LC8c engine. The Austrian firm has close ties with CFMoto, and the Chinese brand manufactures the LC8c engines for worldwide use and builds entire KTM models including the 790 Duke and Adventure for sale in certain markets. It also makes its own adventure bike, the 800MT, that’s powered by the KTM LC8c parallel twin, and the 1250TR tourer that uses a reworked version of KTM’s larger V-twin design. But the SR-C21 (the number refers to the year, not the bike’s capacity), uses a parallel twin that doesn’t match any of those units.

Although it’s hard to make out behind the carbon fiber bodywork, we do know the engine is a parallel-twin arrangement. (CFMoto/)

The engine’s design is KTM-esque, with a layout that’s close to the LC8c’s in terms of the position of the major components—the starter motor, water pump, etc., are all similarly placed—but none of the castings quite match. One possibility is that the engine might be an early sight of the long-expected smaller-capacity “490″ KTM twin, although it would be unusual for a brand-new KTM engine to appear first in another company’s bike. Alternatively, and perhaps more probably, it’s a new CFMoto-specific engine, developed with the firm’s intimate knowledge of KTM’s designs to influence its layout.

Higher-end components like Öhlins suspension and Brembo brakes suggest it may be a running bike rather than a mock-up. (CFMoto/)

With no engine information, it’s hard to make a guess at the SR-C21′s exact capacity or performance, but the overall size of the bike and the choice of suspension and braking parts suggests a middleweight roughly in line with parallel twins like the Aprilia RS 660 and Yamaha R7. As a concept, it features some higher-end parts, including forged carbon fiber for components like the panels under the tank and the winglets extending either side of the fairing.

The styling itself is believed to be the work of Rimini-based Modena 40 SRL, bears distinct similarities to the existing CFMoto 250SR and 300SR models (to be sold as the 300SS in the States), and even closer ties to the yet-to-be-released 250SR-R, which was leaked earlier this year and adds winglets and a single-sided swingarm to the mix, just like the SR-C21.

Stylized bits like the lights and carbon winglets may get cut, but there’s no reason the rest of the design won’t make it into a production version. (CFMoto/)

The concept bike’s mystery engine sits in a tubular steel trellis frame, with Öhlins suspension at either end, equipped with Brembo brakes and Pirelli Supercorsa rubber, plus dual SC-Project exhausts hanging under the single-seat tail. While relatively exotic, the components are all real-world parts, suggesting the SR-C may well be a running, rideable bike rather than a clay-and-Bondo design exercise. The stylized LED headlights don’t look like they’d be suited to production, and the bike lacks a license plate, turn signals, or mirrors, but apart from those details it’s a believable proposition, right down to the operating LCD dash. It will be a surprise if a production model looking very much like this—albeit with some lower-spec components and materials—doesn’t get launched in the next year or so.

Slim lighting strips and extended wings give the design a visual lightness from the front. (CFMoto/)

The tidy rear end is equally attractive. (CFMoto/)